Common Nonsense

Where to begin.
Yet another article making the rounds of the 'Net about the utter lack of good sense by school administrators, this time in Chandler, Arizona. A 13-year-old boy draws a picture of a laser gun and earns a five day suspension because the sketch is deemed a "threat." Quoting from the article, "Chandler district spokesman Terry Locke said the sketch was "absolutely considered a threat," and threatening words or pictures are punishable." Read the entire news article here.
It is examples such as this that help explain why the general public's confidence in the public school system hovers in the same neighborhood as the polling numbers of President Bush and Congress.

[The image accompanying this post was whipped together in PhotoShop and is not necessarily representative of the fear-inducing visage created by Ben and Paula Mosteller's "evil genius" son.]

Aborting an entire society

What she lacks in quantity, she more than compensates with quality.
Still Stacy offers a well reasoned, tangible argument on the essential immorality of abortion: "Congratulations; Procreating 101; sperm, meet egg. But one needs to take a deeper look into why Russia is suffering from this population crisis. .. Russia needs far more than monetary motivation to increase it’s population. You remove religion from a society with no one but a socialist regime to answer to, and this is what you get. A historically great country, literally, disappearing citizen by citizen. Whatever your feelings are towards abortion, there is one thing you should accept as the truth; abortion kills people; not potential people; real, live people."

Anyway, go visit her blog and read the entire post.

"Common Sense" - Can you use those words in the same sentence?

It's head scratching time again.
Betsy Newmark opines on the wit and wisdom (specifically the lack of both) of the prosecutor in Yamhill County, Oregon who had sought to brand two middle school students as "sexual predators" for slapping female classmates' bottoms and playing "boob tag". Betsy asks, "Can't we have some return to common sense when dealing with children?" (Her article here)
It does seem common sense is none too common these days - or perhaps it never has been; we see more of it thanks to all this communications/information technology.

Useful Science

I came across this
while scanning FARK. Who knew the common #2 pencil offers such additional utility?



Turn A PENCIL Into A LIGHT ! - video powered by Metacafe

The everloving wisdom of the Kos Kotillion

This has gotten some attention around the blogosphere and the MSM. Some of the Kos Kids want to join a union. That's all well and good. I once was a union member; even served as Shop Steward of my local. The thing is, I had a job, and an employer with whom to bargain. If you're a Kos Kid, with whom do you negotiate for wages, working conditions, and benefits? Perhaps your parents would be willing to pony up for a new futon in the basement? I scratch my head at their utter cluelessness. Minds more vacuous than a Valley Girl's.
And it is this group the Democratic presidential candidates all paid homage?

Shamalama at Common Folk Using Common Sense sums it up nicely: "Obviously Unclear On The Concept" (hat tip to Stacy's blogroll.)

Shameless pride of a grandpap

Light postings of late. So, enjoy this visual one.







Our granddaughter Reese is such a cute little peanut.

Steely McBeam - you're kidding, right? Please say you're kidding.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are 75 years old this year, and have managed to succeed without the need for skanky cheerleaders or a cartoonish, costumed mascot - until now.
So now the Steelers have a mascot, and worse, they named it Steely McBeam.

It seems to me that if you must have a mascot, why not tie into what to any loyal Steelers fan is the team's true icon, the Terrible Towel, given to us by the now retired radio analyst Myron Cope. I would have named the character "Iron Myron" (pronouced Cope style as "Eye-run My-run").

Meanwhile a search around the Burgh blogs offers more disdain for this misnamed misanthropic mascot:

Pitt Girl at the Burgh Blog offers a succinct n@ "WTF?"

At Pittsburgh Dish, a similar question: 'A nation asks, "WTF, dude?"'

The Metroblogging Pittsburgh post on this topic offers this opinion: "The Steelers' new mascot has a new name, and it stinks worse than my afternoon commute on a bus with a busted air conditioner.."

The second half of Tunesmith & Anthony thinks the new mascot could find success in another entertainment arena. (NSFW visual)

Go Stillers!

Sympathies to Still Stacy

It's a sad day in the blogosphere. The always insightful and entertaining Stacy has lost her mother. Consider visiting her site and paying your respects.

People of Good Will

The Anchoress is back at the keyboard, much to the delight of many. Her latest post, Dave Gorman and Men of Goodwill is a particularly timely missive. This passage, in particular caught my eye: “People of Good Will are the people who take another person at face-value, who do not immediately label, categorize, and quickly shelve those they encounter based on their perceived income, politics, philosophy, or appearance. People of Goodwill give the other guy the benefit of a doubt, they choose to receive another person with the expectation that that person is someone worthy of respectful attention and friendly regard - until that person proves otherwise.”
Read the entire article over at her site.

Removing a speed bump on the Hershey Highway

Ah, the joys of early middle age. I must say the effects of Demerol almost makes up for the inconvenience of having a live video feed originating from inside my large intestine. This was my second colonoscopy; the first one showed a pink, healthy bowel. I know this because I convinced the doctor that I wanted to remain unsedated to watch the proceedings. I found it quite interesting - once. It was not exactly painful, but having traffic moving the wrong way on a one way road was in this instance both unnerving and uncomfortable.
This time, I decided to limit the audience to the professionals and allowed the nurse to bring on the drugs. And wouldn't you know it. I missed the doc finding a polyp. I now have to wait a few days to see whether or not it is cancerous (best bet is not.)